tech

Hackers take aim at iPhones, Macs

12 Comments

Security specialists say that hackers are taking increasing aim at iPhones and Macintosh computers as the hot-selling Apple devices gain popularity worldwide.

Hackers have historically focused devious efforts on computers using Windows operating systems because the Microsoft software has more than 90% of the global market, promising evil-doers a wealth of targets.

Macintosh computers have been gaining market share and catching the interest of hackers, according to Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) security vulnerability analyst Cameron Hotchkies.

"There are more eyes looking over Apple products for vulnerabilities," Hotchkies said at a notorious annual DefCon gathering of hackers in Las Vegas. "It has slowly been growing as a target people are more and more interested in."

Hotchkies specializes in Apple software as part of a ZDI team devoted to scrutinizing programming holes and crafting "patches" to prevent hackers from exploiting weaknesses.

More than a thousand people crammed into his DefCon talk about hacking Apple software. He was peppered with technical questions at the close of the session.

"There are a lot more people getting into it and really getting their hands dirty," said Hotchkies, who noted an obvious spike this year in the number of DefCon attendees toting Macintosh laptops.

"I've been seeing a lot of reverse engineering on the Apple platform."

Part of the reason for increased popularity of Macintosh computers is that Apple has made the machines friendlier to running programs popular on Windows-based machines.

Hackers experienced with attacking Windows programs can apply some of their know-how to software modified to run on Macintosh computers.

Developers that re-craft Windows programs for Macintosh systems might not be adept at building security components on the latest Leopard operating system used in Apple machines.

"Windows developers take their code and make it work on Apple," Hotchkies said. "They could take potential vulnerabilities with them or possibly create new ones because they are working on an entirely different platform."

Apple's Safari operating system is the basis for internet browsing using iPhones, which are basically handheld mini-computers with telephone, music, and video viewing capabilities.

It took about a month for someone to hack a first-generation iPhone after its release, but an iPhone 3G was cracked within hours of the start of sales in July.

The hack is crowned a "jail break" because it liberates iPhone models from the shackles of deals Apple has with telecom giants providing exclusive service to the devices in varying countries.

"It shows people are getting proficient at analyzing Apple software," Hotchkies said.

"There are people looking at the iPhone. We pass vulnerabilities on to vendors, and when I communicate with Apple the first thing they ask is if we've tested it on the iPhone. They don't want to be surprised."

Apple engineers are also addressing "legacy issues," protecting old software from new threats, according to Hotchkies.

© Wire reports

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

12 Comments
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The author that wrote this has confused "hacking the software" and hackers that make virus'

Know what you're talking about before you try to write something please. I thought JT was owned by an IT company?

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Indeed. The ability to hack devices is considered a "good thing", normally. They're just undoing all the damage to the functionality which Apple have done by locking it down.

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somebody told me that brazilian hackers r prety good, they can hack ps2, ps..wounder if xbox will come next or iphone.

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Hacking software is a completely different kettle of fish to creating spyware and malware. Hacking an iPhone so it will run on another provider is inevitable. However, creating an effective virus for OSX? That won't happen ever. Partly because of the way OSX is designed it is very easy to find any malware within the OS and also because most viruses are made on Macs or Linux based systems. I've always thought it was the antivirus software makers creating the viruses in the first place to create a market for their products.

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Hmm, OS X is UNIX based too.

Mac OS X is the successor to the original Mac OS, which had been Apple's primary operating system since 1984. Unlike its predecessors, Mac OS X is a Unix-based operating system[4] built on technology that had been developed at NeXT through the second half of the 1980s until Apple purchased the company in early 1997.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X

Any decent UNIX programmer or admin can hack OS X.

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Any decent UNIX programmer or admin can hack OS X.

Sure about that?

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Yeah, I am sure of it. Only got 30yrs experience in IT.

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Let's call it patching instead of hacking. The startup of a Unix operating system is defined by user readable scripts. Just modify the scripts, and the system can be adjusted. Or replace an executable by a script that points to a different executable. Endless possibilities - for the user which is logged in. Same as for Linux.

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Serendipity:

However, creating an effective virus for OSX? That won't happen ever. Partly because of the way OSX is designed it is very easy to find any malware within the OS and also because most viruses are made on Macs or Linux based systems.

Anyone who believes MAC's are not susceptible to viruses is a fool.

http://jp.youtube.com/profile_video_blog?sid=447E049FC906F9F7&id=1BF89F0EC98E436D

OSX is at threat from viruses just like any other computer. Ain't nothing special about Mac's!

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You'll need to put an underscore mark between 'profile' and 'video' and 'blog'

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You'll need to put an underscore mark between 'profile' and 'video' and 'blog'

Still didn't work - I tried the ? too.

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hopefully this will knock those mac**** down a couple of pegs.

but computer user wouldn't needs to worry about virus and other problems if they

A. secure their networks properly.

B. stop downloading porn or visiting porn sites.

i disabled all the security on my pc for 3 months and continued my regular internet usage.

then later scanned my pc for spyware/viruses, rootkits etc

spybot, nod32, avg, and norton found nothing.

if you know what your doing your not at risk. as far as the phones go, almost the same principle.

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